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Everything and everyone has fitness or nutrition advice to offer these days-websites, television, newspapers, your best friend, college professors, barbers, mechanics, personal trainers, dietitians, and so on. The debate rages on between low carbohydrate and high carbohydrate fanatics. Advocates of high reps or low reps swear by their methods. I could go on forever citing examples of the various arguments running rampant in the fitness industry. All of this conflicting information makes it difficult for people to figure out what's right or wrong.
This website takes the work out of figuring out what's right and what's wrong by combining "in the trenches" knowledge (26 years of experience) with primary scientific data. Some will be surprised to learn that what they've believed about nutrition and exercise all of these years has been dead wrong. A statement isn't necessarily correct just because your fitness coach, college professor, or favorite magazine said it. How many times have you heard "well they say" or "everybody says"?
When someone tells you something or everybody says something, you accept it is as gospel without any question, especially when it came from someone with a highly respected degree or certificate, a reputation for always being right, or any other trusted source. I highly recommend that you change your way of thinking. If you're worried about offending people or possibly upsetting some of your heroes, you should probably stick to a robotic style of thinking and accept that you most likely will never find the truth. Like everyone else, I once assumed that certain statements were correct without really scratching the surface. When writing Knowledge and Nonsense: the science of nutrition and exercise, my views changed on many topics. Once you read the material on this site and in that book, I'm sure yours will too.
A question on a popular fitness forum recently caught my eye. The question was, "What makes an expert?" There were numerous replies to the topic. Some of the fitness gurus (as they and others like to call them) were highly offended and vowed to no longer post on the forum because their guru status was questioned. Have you ever wondered why the fitness industry seems to have more gurus and experts than any other industry? I don't think you need me to answer for you, but in case you need some help, the answer is because there is a potential to make big money if you're an expert in a world full of people who are looking for an easy way to get fit. Ask yourself, what makes an expert? My answer is that there are no true experts. There are too many different topics related to fitness and nutrition (no one can know it all or possibly look at all of the research). The other way to answer this question is by realizing that everything is relative. A person may be an expert on exercise relative to someone who has minimal interest or little knowledge. You might be a protein expert according to the fitness magazine that you write for, but compared to KD Tipton, you are probably ignorant on the subject. Expert status changes as the people you are discussing a topic with changes. Do I consider myself an expert? I don't consider myself a true expert because I don't believe there are any true experts. I do consider myself a person with a fair amount of experience and a substantial amount of knowledge (relative to most people I have came in contact with in the industry- read more about me). I can back up my statements with analytical reasoning and/or references to primary scientific data. I'm not one of those people who like to use the "so and so said," "I have a degree in," or "I have always done it that way" arguments. Those statements are ways to disguise the fact that they have no clue of what they are talking about. At the same time, I learn new things on a daily basis. I also speak with people from time to time that have fitness and nutrition knowledge far more extensive than mine. Those are the people that make me feel like I need to study and experiment more. Those are the people that motivate me to educate myself further.
This website is not a collection of my opinions. Rather, a compilation of thousands of hours of investigating, and analyzing Primary Scientific Research and over two decades of real world experience. This site covers many uninvestigated and misunderstood topics. This site is a great educational tool for anyone interested in nutrition, exercise and critical thinking. But don't take everything said on this site (or any other site or source for that matter) with blind faith learn to be critical. Investigate all claims.
I hope you enjoy MaxCondition. If you have any suggestions or recommendations, please email me at coachhale@adelphia.net
-Thank you
Jamie P Hale
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| 12-19-08 | | by: Coach Hale - Sat Dec 20 2008, 01:51PM | Training Log
Snatch Press (behind neck)
Snatch Push Press (behind neck)
Overhead Squat
Low hang Snatch
Snatch Extension
Barbell One Arm Row (using thick part bar)
Barbell One Arm Jammers
Depth Tuck Jump (step off box and perform Tuck Jump)
Yesterday I performed a 5 mile hike with weighted vest. Earlier this week I done some strength-speed work. I done the stength-speed work in a commercial gym. It was the first time I trained in a commercial facility in about 3 months.
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| 12-16-08 | | by: Coach Hale - Wed Dec 17 2008, 07:08AM | Free 20 min phone consult with the purchase of any of my books through December
I got up this morning looked outside and my driveway was covered with snow and ice. My driveway is very very steep. This means I am trapped in my driveway until it get rid of the snow and ice. I could not find my shovel so I had to walk to a store about 1/2 mile away and purchase a new shovel. The store had no shovels so I had to walk another 2 miles to pick up a shovel. No shovel there either. I walked back home and cleared the driveway with my foot and my camping (survival) shovel (3 inches wide). That was a total of 5miles for nothing. At least I could have looked at it that way, but I decided it was beneficial because it caused me to walk 5 miles in the rain and ice. Maybe I will try it again tomorrow except this time I will wear my weighted vest.
Training Log
One arm Barbell Jammers
One arm Barbell bent over row (gripping thick part of bar)
Overhead Barbell step-up (high box 18 inches)
Full contact twists
Barbell trunk twists
Box push offs (emphasizing speed-strength)
In the near future I plan on doing a video series that includes non-conventional movements such as the ones mentioned above.
Yesterday I bought three new books 2 on the history of science and 1 on teaching science k-12. I will report back once I have read the books.
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